A mum who murdered her husband and her three-month-old baby before shooting herself dead may have been suffering from postpartum depression.
Mary Jo Trokey, 32, her 33-year-old husband, Matthew and their baby, Taylor Rose, were found dead at their home on Friday afternoon in St Louis, Missouri.
One of the baby’s grandparents, who made the horrific discovery, was the person who notified local authorities.
Police said a gun was found at the scene.
Experts on mental illness have said postpartum psychosis — a rare disorder that manifests itself in irrational behaviour (also known as postnatal depression), all triggered by pregnancy — could have been a factor.
But they were keen to point out most women with the condition do not harm themselves or others.
Officials are also looking into records relating to a gun Trokey bought just days before the shooting, reports the St Louis Post Dispatch.
The bodies were all in the same area of the home, police Capt. Eric Larson said on Friday, adding that “it appears to be a murder-suicide”.
Larson said there was no evidence of a break-in and the family were the only people home during the shooting, which likely occurred in the middle of the night.
“We’re used to seeing trauma and violence,” Larson said. “What we’re not used to seeing is having it occur to innocent victims.”
The parents had reportedly lived in the area all their lives and were married for about five years, a family relative told the Post-Dispatch.
The Trokeys were also members of a nearby Catholic church, where they baptized their daughter in December.
A relative said: “They’re just a good, Catholic family. They’re good people.”
The local pastor, Bob Reiker, who performed the baptism on little Taylor Rose said: "It's hard to imagine what happened.
"People are baffled by it. It's inexplicable how someone could do this to themselves, let alone their little girl.
"[They] seemed like a very stable, Catholic couple.
"You would never suspect there were any problems that would lead to something like this."
A friend of Mary Jo’s seemed to indicate she was suffering from postpartum depression in a social media post in the wake of the tragedy.
Annie Krieger posted on Facebook: "First, Mary Jo was a funny and sweet person.
"Much more than the mental illness that defined her death.
"Somebody in our Nerinx FB group thread mentioned remembering her with compassion, and that is something I am trying to keep top of mind as I process this.
"Which brings me to my second point - postpartum anixiety, depression and/or psychosis is incredibly serious.
"Only having experienced baby blues myself, it was enough to know that sometimes your brain and hormones do not function as they should.
"I still don't understand much about the disease - only that it affects way more people that you probably realise, and can affect fathers as well.
"Please watch for warning signs, and provide resources to those you think might suffer from it.
"And overall, be compassionate.
"RIP Mary Jo, Matt and Sweet Baby Taylor."
Source: The Sun